Crime tip line celebrates 100-plus arrests in first year

Patricia Wenskunas, founder and CEO of Orange County Crime Stoppers, speaks during a news conference at the Irvine Spectrum on Monday celebrating the group's one-year anniversary. The board shows the impact the group's tip line has had on crime in Orange County.PAUL BERSEBACH, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

IRVINE – The business was licensed as a medical-supply company, but an anonymous tip told police to take a closer look.

That tip led investigators to two more businesses, a six-month investigation and the arrest of six people suspected of operating a prostitution ring in Irvine. Police said it was the tip – pointing out an oddly high amount of foot traffic into a business on Technology Drive – that helped spur the investigation and shut the ring down in August.

It's the type of result Patricia Wenskunas wanted to see a year ago, when she founded Orange County Crime Stoppers, a nonprofit organization and an anonymous tip line that passes tips to law-enforcement agencies in the county. The nonprofit has generated nearly 700 tips, more than 100 arrests and a relationship with law enforcement that has made the tip line a frequently used investigative tool. With the organization in full stride, its founder said she now wants the program to work with law enforcement in the county's schools.

"I think our statistics speak for themselves," Wenskunas said.

As of Nov. 28, Orange County Crime Stoppers had received 685 tips. From that information, prosecutors have filed 245 criminal charges, according to information provided by the organization.

Those tips have also led to the recovery of nine guns, $253,684 in illicit drugs, $36,608 in seized property and $272,292 in recovered items, the group says.

Some of the tips are requested by police, as when investigators ask for the public's help to find a hit-and-run driver or identify a suspect. But other tips come into the hotline unsolicited, sparking new investigations.

Tips can be submitted via text, phone call or email, giving the tipster anonymity to pass on valuable information. Some of the tips can also merit rewards.

During a news conference Monday morning at the Irvine Spectrum, representatives from several Orange County law-enforcement agencies thanked Wenskunas for her work in creating the organization, which they called a "powerful tool for law enforcement."

"Orange County is a safer community as a result of your vision and leadership," said Irvine Police Chief Dave Maggard.

Wenskunas, who also founded Orange County Crime Survivors, a victims' advocacy group, began working to create an Orange County branch of the Crime Stoppers tip line in 2009, by contacting Los Angeles law-enforcement agencies and following their steps. In 2011, the program went into effect, with the Orange County Sheriff's Department providing a liaison.

Since then, the tip line has turned up several tips that have resolved investigative cases in Orange County, such as that of a woman who was arrested in July on suspicion of posing as a man during a bank robbery in Mission Viejo.

In Santa Ana, police made an arrest in a series of check-cashing business robberies as well.

Orange County Crime Stoppers is now collaborating with the Santa Ana Unified School District, and it is planning to work with other school districts in the county too, Wenskunas said.

In 2013, the organization plans to launch a campaign in several districts, she said, geared toward encouraging students, parents and school officials to report crimes and suspicious activity.

Tips can be submitted online at occrimestoppers.org, or by calling 855-TIP-OCCS, or 855-847-6227.

Patricia Wenskunas, founder and CEO of Orange County Crime Stoppers, speaks during a news conference at the Irvine Spectrum on Monday celebrating the group's one-year anniversary. The board shows the impact the group's tip line has had on crime in Orange County. PAUL BERSEBACH, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Law-enforcement personnel speak during a newsconference celebrating the one-year anniversary of Orange County Crime Stoppers at the Irvine Spectrum on Monday. PAUL BERSEBACH, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Patricia Wenskunas, center front, founder and CEO of Orange County Crime Stoppers, stands with members of local law enforcement during a news conference at the Irvine Spectrum on Monday. Orange County Crime Stoppers is celebrating it one-year anniversary. PAUL BERSEBACH, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Dave Maggard, Irvine police chief, speaks during a news conference celebrating the one-year anniversary of Orange County Crime Stoppers on Monday. PAUL BERSEBACH, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
David Vanentin, chief of Santa Ana Unified School District school police, speaks during a news conference celebrating the one-year anniversary of Orange County Crime Stoppers on Monday. PAUL BERSEBACH, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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